[Kazekeil]

Was excited about this but looks like I'll have to pass. Hopefully the bigger brothers are more competent when they release next year. This is going to turn into another "**** at first but great after x hours of burn in" can. Unfortunately that translates to "**** at first but great after I fool myself into liking the sound sig to justify my purchase."

 

[ebann]

 Also seems overdamped?

And sound a bit that way as well. Slightly bloated and lacking details. But they are getting better over time. Highs still quite harsh but the bass is getting really punchy. Mids moving a bit more forward as well.

 

[leeperry]

What this thread has made dead obvious is that HE400i will be the $200'ish ortho star of this year's BF, monoprice's knock-off got scratched off the list kthx.

 

[tgaguirre]

Was excited about this but looks like I'll have to pass. Hopefully the bigger brothers are more competent when they release next year. This is going to turn into another "**** at first but great after x hours of burn in" can. Unfortunately that translates to "**** at first but great after I fool myself into liking the sound sig to justify my purchase."

 
SO TRUE!!!
 
A truer statement could not be said!  Seriously how can it be that headphones always burn in for the better and rarely for the worse.
 
Self suggestion is a POWERFUL thing.... LOL

 

[gtb75]

The HE-400i would be a great option for me if it folded flat for portability, but it doesn't.  I am hoping the M560 (after they're broken in) will sound similar to my T50RP MK3.  If they do then I will be happy with them and, fortunately, I have the MK3 to do a direct A/B comparison with.  Being able to do a side-by-side comparison with a known reference eliminates the "brain break in" and "self suggestion" issues. I accept that they may need some time to on the break in rig and I'm willing to give them that time - I have 30 days. I certainly don't expect them to sound like my Flows or X00s.

 

[ebann]

  The HE-400i would be a great option for me if it folded flat for portability, but it doesn't.  I am hoping the M560 (after they're broken in) will sound similar to my T50RP MK3.  If they do then I will be happy with them and, fortunately, I have the MK3 to do a direct A/B comparison with.  Being able to do a side-by-side comparison with a known reference eliminates the "brain break in" and "self suggestion" issues. I accept that they may need some time to on the break in rig and I'm willing to give them that time - I have 30 days. I certainly don't expect them to sound like my Flows or X00s.

I had the t50rp and these are quite different indeed. Not as fast or detailed. More spacious sounding though (and way more comfortable). I dont mind these so much. That said, They are already boxed up and ready to go back to Monoprice. They really aren't terrible. There were compromises made to make this a "convertible" product and I just don't need sealed cans. This was a curiosity experiment. I think they are shaping up nicely with 3 days of burn-in and Im sure some people will enjoy them. I may get some 400's in the interim to see what all the fuss is about.
 
I have have a feeling the 1060's will be pretty decent so I'll be grabbing those when they hit the street to find out.

 

[Tony51]

Well, I was about to pull the trigger for the m560, took a moment to think on it, went to Amazon and saw the Hifiman 400I planar at 249.00 prime. I couldn't pass them up at this price when they usually sell between 400.00 - 499.00 so I pulled the trigger instead of the monolith m560. I get them Tues. Ive never seen the hifiman 400I this low price. I am still anxious to read the first impressions from you guys on the m560s. Darn it. LOL
Tony

 

[gtb75]

  I had the t50rp and these are quite different indeed. Not as fast or detailed. More spacious sounding though (and way more comfortable). I dont mind these so much. That said, They are already boxed up and ready to go back to Monoprice. They really aren't terrible. There were compromises made to make this a "convertible" product and I just don't need sealed cans. This was a curiosity experiment. I think they are shaping up nicely with 3 days of burn-in and Im sure some people will enjoy them. I may get some 400's in the interim to see what all the fuss is about.
 
I have have a feeling the 1060's will be pretty decent so I'll be grabbing those when they hit the street to find out.

 
I hear you on the comfort factor of the T50RP...  I added Shure pads and the Mrspeakers strap to mine.  I also picked up a Slappa case for them, but they are just too thick to put in my backpack.  
 
If the M560s are as good as the MK3s, but different, then I will probably be happy with them.  These would be replacing Sennheiser HD239s and would likely be used open most of the time (want to hear people trying to talk to me in the office), but I like the idea of being able to seal them off if I want to block the outside world.  

 

[darinf]

OK, so a while ago, I thought I might get into doing headphone measurements. So I contacted @bluemonkeyflyer and he was kind enough to build me a set of Panasonic WM61 in ear mics and a custom preamp. Unfortunately I never really had the time to spend learning about headphone measurements and almost forgot I had the mics.
Well, with the M560's, I decided to fire up those mics and see if I could figure out how to get at least rough, ballpark measurements.
 
I am certainly a complete newbie when it comes to measurements. (The room and speaker measurements I do for our Out Of Your Head software is completely different than headphone measurements.) So I am hesitant to post the measurements I did simply because they could be wildly inaccurate.
 
But, I did some measurements on the M560's after almost 3 days of break-in. I also measured some of my other headphones to use as a frame of reference so you can see how far off my measurements are against known headphones.
 
The setup was: Panasonic WM-61 mic (in my ear canal) --> custom preamp --> RME Babyface audio input interface --> USB --> Room EQ Wizard (on a Windows laptop)
 
Here's a measurement of the M560's compared to Sennheiser HD600's and Fostex T50RP:
 

 
Well, I measured the M560's a bunch of times and every time, the FR was pretty strange looking. Compared tot he smooth HD600 curve, the M560 is anything but.
 
Infer what you want from these "questionable newbie" measurements... 

 
 
-Darin

 

[shurealltheway]

OK, so a while ago, I thought I might get into doing headphone measurements. So I contacted @bluemonkeyflyer
 and he was kind enough to build me a set of Panasonic WM61 in ear mics and a custom preamp. Unfortunately I never really had the time to spend learning about headphone measurements and almost forgot I had the mics.
Well, with the M560's, I decided to fire up those mics and see if I could figure out how to get at least rough, ballpark measurements.

I am certainly a complete newbie when it comes to measurements. (The room and speaker measurements I do for our Out Of Your Head software is completely different than headphone measurements.) So I am hesitant to post the measurements I did simply because they could be wildly inaccurate.

But, I did some measurements on the M560's after almost 3 days of break-in. I also measured some of my other headphones to use as a frame of reference so you can see how far off my measurements are against known headphones.

The setup was: Panasonic WM-61 mic (in my ear canal) --> custom preamp --> RME Babyface audio input interface --> USB --> Room EQ Wizard (on a Windows laptop)

Here's a measurement of the M560's compared to Sennheiser HD600's and Fostex T50RP:




Well, I measured the M560's a bunch of times and every time, the FR was pretty strange looking. Compared tot he smooth HD600 curve, the M560 is anything but.

Infer what you want from these "questionable newbie" measurements...   

-Darin

Lots of peaky treble spikes. Seems to be accurate with the way people are describing them. I hate that frequency response.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Darin,

How does M560 sound compared to the others, and to other orthos? Glad to see you're beginning to make some diy measurements. I think you will get more consistent measurements as you gain experience with your gear and standardize your technique. Cool!

You might want to try ARTA software for comparison. I put together a HOW To guide I can send to you and anyone interested.

~ BMF

 

[ebann]

Thats exactly what mine sounded like. Had to EQ 3.5k and 7k to get nice balanced mids. and 350 750 to get rid of that boxy bloatedness. Not bad once corrected but I dont want to have to correct.

 

[darinf]

Darin,

How does M560 sound compared to the others, and to other orthos? Glad to see you're beginning to make some diy measurements. I think you will get more consistent measurements as you gain experience with your gear and standardize your technique. Cool!

You might want to try ARTA software for comparison. I put together a HOW To guide I can send to you and anyone interested.

~ BMF

I did a few brief comparisons early on, but that was before the M560's were broken in at all: http://www.head-fi.org/t/820107/monoprice-monolith-m1060-and-m560-planar-headphones/165#post_13019657
 
I don't think I ever got the ARTA How to from you. That would be great. I need all the help I can get. You can e-mail me at info-at-fongaudio-dot-com.
 
Here's another measurement comparing the open vs. closed configuration: (Purple is the closed measurement.)
 

 

[wushuliu]

You get what you pay for with monoprice. Don't know why anyone expects different.

 

[maxcooper]

 
No L/R indicator on the cable

The plugs are both stereo (and 3.5mm), so it doesn't matter which sides you plug them into. Left is left and right is right, even if you swap the plugs. I confirmed this experimentally.

-Max